Commencement
by LoveAcrossTime
Summary: Kagome graduates from high school, and a new life begins for her...and Inuyasha. The couple can truly be together at last. Ongoing. Rated for lime and implied lemon in first chapter. InuXkag. Reviews welcome, no flames.


Commencement

Chapter 1

Close Enough

A/N: I honestly have no idea how many chapters this is going to be, so I won't even make an estimate. I expect it will be fairly long, but who knows? Anyway, here's the first chapter. I will update as often as I can, so long as real life does not get in the way , which it has a habit of doing. I wasn't really sure what to rate this. There is lime and implied lemon in the first chapter, but after that, I don't expect there to be anything of that sort. Please let me know if you think I rated it too strongly.

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Inuyasha, why in the seven hells would I need to write fanfic??

Anyway, enjoy the first chapter!

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A burst of coldish air hit the former schoolgirl as she pushed open the steamed-up door. _Former schoolgirl_. She grinned to herself. _Former as of a few hours ago._ It was still hard to believe, even though she was walking out of her graduation party, garbed in a sparkly black mini-dress, her graduation gown slung over one arm. Behind her, the decoration committee was already beginning to tear down the "Congratulations to our graduating class!" banner. Balloons littered the floor. She nimbly stepped over one and pushed the door the rest of the way open. 

Kagome took a deep breath of fresh air, the first she'd had in hours. The air in the party had been sickly sweet with the mixed scents of girls' perfumes, and guys' colognes, not to mention the smell of sweat from all the dancing and the hot lights. There had also been a bitter undertone from the alcohol several people had managed to sneak in. Kagome wrinkled her nose. If it smelled so bad, she doubted it could taste much better.

She stepped outside, carefully placing her high heels so she wouldn't slip on the confetti-littered pavement. _Looks like they brought the party out here, too._ And then, ignoring the confetti and its probable slippage to a girl in heels who'd been up since dawn, and was now heading home at nearly four a.m., Kagome twirled joyfully, watching her skirt billow out and twirl with her. _I'm free!_ she sung inwardly. _It's over! No more studying in the feudal era. No more making up illnesses so that I can be with my friends over there. No more lying to my modern-age friends every day. No more worrying that since the hunt for the jewel ended over a year ago, I should be spending more time here. But most importantly…_

But before Kagome could mentally phrase the most important thing that being free of school would allow, it came to her. Literally dropped out of the sky (or, more likely, from the nearest rooftop), in the form of a red-clad hanyou with long silver hair and a black hat jammed over his fuzzy dog ears.

He caught her mid-twirl, spinning her around so that she was facing him, nose inches from his.

"Inuyasha!" she exclaimed breathlessly, throwing her arms around her hanyou's neck. He grinned at her, gently setting her back down on the pavement. His arms went around her waist.

"Is it over?" he asked, trying to hide the impatience behind the remark. _Has he been waiting up there the whole party? I told him he should go back to my house and wait for me!_

"Yes. I'm freeeeeeee!" Kagome sang, jumping up and down a bit.

"It's about time." He didn't just mean the party, they both knew that. They'd been waiting for years.

"I know." Kagome beamed up at him, and his heart flopped over the way it always did when she smiled. Or even looked at him. Or whenever he thought about her. Or…

Rolling his eyes inwardly, he bent down and kissed her. _Or whenever I do this,_ he couldn't help but add.

"Mmm." Kagome ran her tongue over his lips, tasting their sweetness. He opened his mouth a bit and she smiled. His taste was so familiar to her. So comforting. It was her favorite taste on earth. _Which is kind of odd, considering that he tastes a whole lot like ramen. Gee, I wonder why._

"I've been waiting for this moment for two goddamn years," the hanyou muttered bitterly when they broke apart. "I still don't see why we had to wait until you finished school, anyway." He crossed his arms over his chest, making Kagome smile again.

"Baka. You know I had to finish school."

"Keh."

But Kagome had longed for it too. Longed for the moment she could be with him, truly be with him, in every way. Since the purification of the jewel, when it had revealed that the deepest desire of the hanyou's heart was to be with her, forever, they had waited. The jewel had done its part, keeping the well that linked their two times open for all eternity, and speeding his lifespan up to hers, so that they might age together. But Kagome wanted more. She wanted more than kissing him, holding him, being his. She wanted to be with him, truly and deeply, in every way possible. And he wanted it too. He'd even asked her, once before. Asked her if she would become his mate, so that they would be bound together permanently. He'd even gone so far as to ask her mother. Kagome had been willing to accept on the spot. Of course she had. It was her mother who had reminded them of what was inevitable. Life. She had said that Kagome had to finish school before they could be bound together in _any_ way. After that, it was their decision. Kagome knew that her mother wanted them to be together. She had loved the hanyou as her own son for years. Kagome grinned, her thick hair falling in her eyes. _At last. The waiting was worth it. It was all worth it._

Inuyasha smirked at her, brushing the hair from her eyes. He looked down into her eyes, still holding her raven hair back with his clawed hands.

"Inuyasha…" She still hadn't quite caught her breath, and now it seemed unlikely that she ever would. Not with his molten gold eyes staring strait into hers.

The hanyou had similarly lost track of his thoughts. One minute he was the happiest he thought he'd ever been, with emotions tangling themselves up in his mind. The next, all conscious thought left him. There was only Kagome. Kagome and her beautiful brown eyes, her gaze locked with his…

And then she was in his arms, and their lips were pressed together, and he had wrapped one hand up in a strand of her soft hair. He gently caressed her lips with his, breathing in her warm, encompassing scent. He had always loved her scent, but it wasn't until a year or so ago that he'd discovered that she smelled even better when he was kissing her. Her scent was the sweetest it ever was, because she was happy. And they were so close, with his nose pressed up against her cheek. He was surrounded by an aura of Kagome-ness. Her touch, her scent, her taste…

Kagome gently pulled her lips from his, leaning into his strong chest.

"I love you," she murmured tiredly.

"I love you, too," he replied gruffly, pulling her closer. She responded by mumbling something incoherent, and he suddenly remembered how tired she must be. He forgot, sometimes, how easily humans got tired. She'd been awake far too long…she had to get some sleep.

Kagome sensed the warmness of the hanyou around her, and snuggled closer. Ecstatic as she was, she was also exhausted. With the excitement of graduation, she was sure she hadn't had a full night's sleep in several weeks.

"C'mon. Let me get you home," Inuyasha said softly, gently prying her fingers from his hair. "You're exhausted."

"Mmm." Kagome took a step back, blinking at him sleepily. "Okay." And then her mouth curved into a tired smile, and the bounced up and down a few more times, with a little squeal. "It's actually over!"

"I know." Inuyasha smiled down at his love, and then scooped her up into his arms. A slight blush spread across his cheeks as her skirt rode up and his hand brushed against her thigh. She only giggled and rested her head on his chest again. Her caressed her hair once, and then took of toward the shrine, relishing the cover of night as he leapt to the nearest roof, and took her home the fast way.

oOo

Inuyasha yawned, and lay back on Kagome's bed. His ears twitched as he listened to Kagome in the bathroom. He heard her brush her teeth (although it had always puzzled him why she did this, for it covered up her natural taste. It did leave her tasting interestingly of mint, though), and spit into the sink. He heard her turn on the shower, and a splash as she got in. Within minutes, the strong, fruity smell of her bath gel pervaded the room. Inuyasha fumbled a minute with his outer haori, before slipping out of it and tossing it on the bed beside him. He looked at it for a minute, and then picked it up and hung it over the back of the bed. He leaned into the pillows, wondering, as he often did, how anything could be so soft. Nothing was that soft in their era. _Mine, I mean,_ he corrected himself. But he couldn't help thinking of the feudal era as both his and Kagome's. _If it's mine, then it's ours._ _This era is, too. They're both ours._

He heard the shower shutting off. He could picture Kagome getting out of the shower and walking over to the towel rack. He blushed. _I've been talking to Miroku too much._

He heard the _click_ as Kagome opened up a bottle of the sweet-smelling lotion she used. It was different than what she used to use. The old stuff had a sickeningly sweet scent that he hated, so she'd let him go shopping with her, and find one more acceptable. This one was better, and much less strong-smelling. He could still smell her under it.

He heard the rough _brshhbrshh_ of her brushing out her wet hair. He'd waited in her room while she got ready for bed many times before. He had it timed perfectly. He counted under his breath as soon as the brushing sounds stopped. He gave it between twenty and thirty seconds before she emerged in her bathrobe. The doorknob turned, and the door swung open. Inuyasha grinned. _Twenty five._

Kagome shut the bathroom door behind her, and paused to wring out her hair. She undid the tie on her bathrobe, and giggled as Inuyasha continued to stare. She blinked at him, grinning.

"You gonna stare, or look away, hmm?"

The hanyou blushed bright red, and turned away resolutely. He put his hands over his eyes for added effect. Kagome laughed. She slipped out of her robe, and pulled on pale pink pajama shorts. She reached into her drawer for a tee shirt, and pulled out one from her old school. She looked at it for a minute, then tossed it back in, choosing instead a white shirt with writing on it that her mother had gotten for her.

"Okay, you can look, silly," she said, prying his fingers from his eyes.

"Keh." Inuyasha flopped back onto her bed, focusing on the ceiling. Kagome laughed again, stretched, and then sat down next to her hanyou. "So how was the party?" he mumbled. Kagome tweaked his ear, grinning at his attempt at a real conversation.

"It was alright. Kinda hot and stuffy, loud music, lots of people dancing. You'd have hated it," she added, running her fingers through his silver hair. "Still, I missed you the whole time."

Inuyasha rolled onto his side so he could look at her. He grimaced at the thought of the one party he'd tried to go to with Kagome. With his strong senses, he hadn't been able to bear it for very long. "Sorry," he said softly. "I missed you, too."

"It's fine. Anyway, it's all over now." Kagome slid down so she was lying beside him, and placed a hand on his cheek. "And we're together…"

"Finally." Roughly, he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her thin frame. She snuggled into him, running her fingers across his back.

"You're so warm," she whispered. Inuyasha stiffened, worried.

"Are you cold? Here." He disentangled himself, and sat up to reach for a blanket. Kagome laughed.

"I'm fine. Geez, talk about overprotective." But she let him pull the blanket over her.

"I ain't overprotective!" the hanyou complained, flopping back onto the pillows.

"Are too." Kagome playfully tweaked his ear again, loving how soft and fuzzy it was. "You're trying to protect me from the _cold!_"

"Keh." Inuyasha pulled her to him, burying his head in her hair. "I just…don't want to lose you."

Kagome's eyes turned serious, and she wrapped her arms around him. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. Not even if you forced me."

"No way in hell. And I would never, ever let anything happen to you." He drew back slightly, looking into her eyes. "You know that, right?"

Kagome smiled at him, warmth flooding through her, and not from the blanket. "Of course I do, silly. I love you."

Before he could reply, she firmly placed a kiss on his lips. He closed his eyes, happily leaning into her. _I love you too,_ he added silently.

A nervous shiver ran down Kagome's spine as Inuyasha opened his mouth, letting her slide her tongue in. They had kissed on her bed many times before, and even…gone farther. He slept with her in her bed whenever they were in her era, now. But they hadn't gone all the way yet. That would…bind them together. They would be mates, real mates, forever. They both wanted it, but Kagome's mother had strictly forbidden it, until Kagome was through with high school. Kagome remembered how Inuyasha had reacted when she'd first told him that, threatening to take Kagome to the other side and never bring her back. He had asked how her mother _dared_ try to keep them apart. It had taken a lot of explaining before the hanyou had agreed to wait until Kagome finished high school. They had already decided that it would be too difficult for Kagome to go to college…at least for several years. Inuyasha had…in so many words…told Kagome that he would not stand for four more years of having to be apart from her, ever. Frankly, Kagome agreed. Still, she figured that she might consider it someday. Maybe. In a very long time.

But right at that moment, she was free. Her obligations were over. They could be together, in all the ways they had wanted to for so long. Suddenly, Kagome felt wide awake.

Inuyasha slid his tongue into Kagome's mouth, running it along the backs of her teeth, tasting her underneath the mintyness of her toothpaste. His tongue explored all the familiar places inside her mouth that it had been before. With his strong senses, Inuyasha thought that maybe he could actually taste a trace of himself there. But maybe she'd just been eating ramen.

She tasted so good. Never before had he been able to forget everything, forget the life that he'd had, forget that he despised the only family member he had left, forget that he was a half-breed, doomed to never fit in. But with Kagome, he could forget everything but Kagome. And all his memories with the miko were happy ones. Even the fights they'd had. Even…everything. Anything. There was always a lingering trace of happiness, a sort of lightness in his heart, when she was there. _Why did it take me so damn long to realize that that's what love is? Needing her. Trusting her. Making her feel happy, and letting her make me feel happy. Knowing that I can't live without her. Knowing that, in a way, I _am _her. And she is me._

Kagome sighed happily, deepening the kiss, and leaning closer so that her legs entangled with his. She wanted, needed, to be close to him. She couldn't get close enough, could never get close enough. Even now, with her body pressed up against his, and their legs intertwined, and their arms wrapped tightly around each other. Even with their mouths locked, as they were. She still needed to be closer to him.

She pulled her mouth back, and he opened his eyes and blinked at her.

"Inuyasha…" Her voice was soft. He looked into her eyes, and pulled her closer.

"Yeah," he said. It wasn't a question. It was an answer.

Slowly, she pulled her arms away. He pulled off his inner haori, casually, and tossed it over the edge of the bed. He often slept with it off, in her era. He liked the feel of her, pressed against his bare chest. Then, somewhat awkwardly, he reached for the hem of her shirt, slowly pulling it up. This, too, he had done before. Not that many times, though. Not enough times to quell the shaking of his hands as he lifted it over her head. She giggled, somewhat nervously, and that helped. He smirked at her, and kissed her gently.

"You're no good at this, you know that, right?" she laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. He returned the embrace, teasingly pulling on a lock of her hair.

"D'you expect me to be? I'm not like Miroku, and those other guys who—who can just—" Kagome could _feel_ his blush. She laughed at him.

"You say that like you think I know what _I'm_ doing."

"Nah, I can tell you don't," he teased her. She growled, much more like a youkai than the human she was, and playfully twisted his hair around her finger. Inuyasha smiled to himself. He and Kagome were best friends, along with being lovers, and that helped. Immensely. Their love was built on friendship, rather than the way around. He knew that each time they went farther, farther than either of them had ever gone before, they were going through it together. The anxiety. The awkwardness. Even, sometimes, fear. They had been through everything together. They _knew_ each other, better even than they knew themselves, it often seemed. And that made it so much easier.

"Hey, dog boy, what're you thinking about that's so interesting?" Kagome tugged at one of his ears. He batted her hand away, smirking again.

"Thinkin' about how creepy your obsession with my ears is," he retorted. She rolled her eyes.

"They're cute, okay? Cute! Get over it!"

"A compliment? She's complimenting me?" Inuyasha faked shock, and Kagome smacked him.

"Hello? _I'm _the girl; it's _your_ job to compliment me, you know," she teased. Turning away from him, she pretended to sulk. He grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back.

"I ain't gonna compliment you, but you'd better not turn away. I _like_ looking at you!"

Kagome rolled her eyes again, and let him pull her to him.

"Yeah, I love you too, doggy."

"Keh." Inuyasha grinned. He didn't even mind the teasing. He liked it, actually. Reaching down, he kissed her gently. Actions were so much easier than words. She returned the kiss, and he felt hot, suddenly. Her bare chest was cool against his, but inwardly, he was hot. And…well, he knew what that feeling meant. Kagome pulled away, just enough to look up at him.

"I really do love you, you know," she said softly.

"I know." Inuyasha pulled her even closer to him, but it was not close enough. Not yet. "I love you too."

And they both knew it was time. They were ready—they had been for some time. They both wanted it. And they had the blessing of the only family either of them had left. Kagome slid out of his arms, and reached down to slide off her shorts. Surprisingly, she was not nervous. She felt a surge of joy, and so she beamed. And Inuyasha, laughing, beamed back.

And then it was just…so easy. Inuyasha undid the tie on his hakama, and Kagome helped him slide it off. And frankly, after all Kagome had heard, all the warnings she had received about it being awkward, unpleasant, and painful…well, it really wasn't any of those. She was with the boy she loved, loved as a best friend and as a…mate. They had wanted it for so long. And at last, the time had come.

Inuyasha really hadn't heard much about it, before. He'd never known his father, and his mother had certainly never talked of such things to him, not what with as young as he was, when she was alive. After she died, well…he was all alone. He had found some happiness with Kikyou, but it hadn't been until he'd met Kagome that he had known true happiness, for the first time. And they had friends, now. People who he genuinely cared about, and who genuinely cared about him. Nonetheless, no one had ever talked to him about it. And he had never really allowed himself to think about it. Sometimes, he would catch himself gazing at Kagome, and thinking things that he thought he would never, ever voice aloud. And then he would blush, and turn away, and be surly to everyone for the rest of the day. But none of that mattered now. He was comfortable with Kagome, happy. He loved her with all his heart. And, as he slid inside her, so that he was actually inside her body, he realized something. At last…they were close enough.

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A/N: I'll update this as soon as I can, life permitting. If you liked this, please review, although flames are unnecessary and will be disregarded. _Constructive_ critisism is always welcome, however. Also, although I won't change the overall plot of a fic based on readers' suggestions, I will use any ideas that I like (with credit to you, of course.) Arigatou! 


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